Abstract Ref Number = APCP1131
Poster Presentation
Stem cell treatment strategies for the prevention of cerebral palsy
HARUO SHINTAKU, MAKOTO NABETANI, TAKASHI HARUO SHINTAKU,MAKOTO NABETANI,TAKASHI HAMAZAKI,SATOSHI OHNISHI,EMI TANAKA,SATOSHI KUSUDA,MASANORI TAMURA,HISANORI SOBAJIMA,MASAYO KANAI,SHINICHI WATABE,MARIKO SAWADA
Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine Yodogawa Christian Hospital, Osaka, Japan Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan Tokyo Womens Medical University, Tokyo, Japan Center for Maternal, Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan Kurashiki Central Hospital, Okayama, Japan
Background : Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is considered to be a major cause of cerebral palsy (CP) in neonates with moderate or severe asphyxia. Regenerative therapy for the prevention of CP was started in the last 10 years. The benefits of autologous umbilical cord blood stem cell (UC-BSCs) transplantation combined with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) for HIE were indicated in a recent publication and we also confirmed the safety of this therapy after a phase 1 study in Japan. However, since it is limited to mature infants, the development of new cell therapy for smaller premature babies is desired. We studied the feasibility of regenerative medicine by not only UC-BSCs but also UC-MSCs which is expected as a remarkable excellent therapeutic method for the prevention of CP.
Material : UCBSCs were collected aseptically and prepared by using SEPAX which require more than 40ml of UCB. UC-MSCs were collected aseptically and isolated from UC, and cryopreserved after culture. Infants admitted to the NICU of 6 hospitals in our research group were eligible if they were ?36 weeks’ gestational age and birth weight ?1800 g with HIE and met the cooling criteria.
Results : UCBSCs therapy for neonatal HIE in addition to TH was performed in 6 newborn patients. All of them were discharged from the NICU without the support of a ventilator and survived from 6 months to 3 years. UC-MSCs have been defined and characterized as follows: (1) abundant sources and ease of collection, storage, and transport; (2) low immunogenicity with significant immunosuppressive ability.
Conclusions : Autologous UCBSCs for newborn HIE is safe and feasible, and warrants a larger and controlled phase II study. UC-MSCs therapy will enable the administration of treatment to patients who could not obtain UC blood.
Keywords: cord blood stem cell cerebral palsy mesenchymal stromal cell regenerative medicine